The Scourge Of Racism
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Released January 5, 2024
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It should go without saying that if the living God is calling professed Christians as followers of His Son to repentance, then, non-Christians ought to be on notice too! Indeed, it is written: “For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? Now ‘“If the righteous one is scarcely saved, where will the ungodly and the sinner appear,”’” (1 Peter 4:17-18, NKJV)? Because God in holy character operates in perfect justice (Deuteronomy 31:30-32:4), nobody gets away with anything; sin must be judged and punished (Genesis 2:16-17, 3:17-19; Psalm 62:9-12; Ezekiel 18:4; Matthew 12:33-37).
Unless therefore, God had sent His Son, Jesus Christ, into the world to take on man’s judgment and punishment for sin, none would be saved (John 3:16-21, 36). Again, without God having taken the initiative out of His great love, grace, mercy and righteousness to make a way of salvation from sin for mankind through repentance and faith in the Gospel of Christ--that He died on the cross for our sins, was buried and rose again on the third day, this fallen world and mankind as sinners after giving an account for every sin committed would have long ago endured His wrath and been eternally destroyed (Genesis 6:5-8; John 8:21-24; Romans 1:16-17, 3:9-31, 5:6-9, 10:4-13)!
Instead, those of us who have repented of our sins and believed the Gospel of Christ have been forgiven, indwelt and brought to eternal spiritual life by the Spirit of God as well as reconciled to Him after being enemy combatants (Acts 2:36-39; Romans 5:10-11; Colossians 1:19-23). The foregoing is supposed to be the result in every case. But keeping it real, in addition to many who are weak in the faith, there have been numerous rebels, impostors and apostates who have dwelt among the Church the Lord has been building from the first century A.D. and misrepresented it to the on looking world (Acts 2:40-47, 5:1-11; Romans 16:17-20; Galatians 2:1-5; 1 John 2:18-23; Jude 3-19).
For this cause, God is righteously at work in His house through judgment calling His weak in the faith, backslidden and rebel professed people to repentance; testing and disciplining even the faithful to conform us fully to the glorious divine character resident in Christ (Hebrews 12:1-17). He is also exposing and separating out of His house the false, unrepentant disobedient and fallen away since Christ in all sobriety returns for a bride He sacrificed Himself to “sanctify and cleanse,” that does not have “spot or wrinkle or any such thing,” but is “holy and without blemish,” (Ephesians 5:25-27; 2 Peter 3:14, NKJV). Professed Christians thinking otherwise are deceived (Galatians 5:19-21, 6:7-8)!
Thus, if it is all like that for professed Christians as the apostle Peter serves up in his warning I quoted in the first paragraph of this post, then, the non-Christian is truly in grave peril. For God’s command to ‘“all men everywhere to repent’” is so ‘“because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man (Jesus Christ) whom He has ordained;” giving “assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead,’” (Acts 17:30-31, NKJV). The Lord led me to end my last post confirming He has not turned from His day of wrath upon all of those who have disobeyed His Gospel command to repent! It is coming more certainly than tomorrow’s sunrise!1
As I also recently briefly wrote about discussing these days of increasing post-Christianity unbelief in God,2 like ground with its overgrown weeds removed as preparation for planting, but after a delay grows back, so, the world has had a brief moment when the bright promise of Christianity filled it with the knowledge of God enough for many at least to believe in His existence. Now, helped in part by the willful neglect of guilty professed Christians and their churches in sin, compromise and corruption, all of the weeds of wickedness seen historically in secular atheism, false religions and the deeds of the flesh are growing back exceedingly worse than before (Luke 11:14-26).3
Refusing to believe in God does not dismiss Him from existence as He led me to state another way in a 2022 post!4 His steadily intensifying judgments in these latter days besides being remedial are warnings intended primarily to cause all to recognize His reality and repent before it is too late. However, because of proudly refusing to believe in the Judeo-Christian God of the Bible who warned millennia ago through His prophets about the escalating severity of the calamities we now, see coming upon the world, non-Christians (and many biblically ignorant professed Christians) are foolishly attributing them all to manmade climate change in the false hope they can fix things. Not! Surely, climate change is occurring, but it is not exclusively due to human cause (Amos 3:6-7, 5:8-9).
1 Read the April 23, 2023 post, A Word To God’s Faithful, under the category, Encouragement.
2 See the September 25, 2022 post, The Epidemic Of Unbelief In God, under the category, Encouragement.
3 The faithful and devoted heart of the aspiring strong man and great woman of God in the image of Christ is required to stand firm against this never before seen spiritual tide as I write about them in my book, The Strong Man Of God: Back To Basics! You can pick up a Hard or Soft Cover Edition of the book as well as companion Strong Man Of God Men’s Group Study and Great Woman Of God Women’s Group Study in the Strong Man Store, among internet booksellers and brick and mortar bookstores.
4 Read the October 2, 2022, Unbelief In God Has Consequences, under the category, Instruction.
On Palm Sunday nearly two millennia ago the Lord Jesus Christ began purposely moving toward His foretold appointment with the cross as God’s provided Passover Lamb for the world (John 1:29, 3:12-21, 12:12-36). In light of this historical reality and its fulfillment just days later, I rejoice to be among the millions of those from that time who have benefitted from His sacrifice through being saved from and no longer “glorying” in my sins (1 Corinthians 5:6-8, NKJV). Indeed, I heard and believed the Gospel of Christ on Resurrection Sunday 1977 that He died on the cross for my sins, was buried and on the third day after rose again as it is written (Isaiah 53; 1 Corinthians 15:1-4)!
While every day of my life since being saved I have sinned in some manner coming short of God’s glorious perfection, as He has directed me, I have taken full advantage of His instruction through the apostle John and the writer of Hebrews to confess my sins in all repentance; “boldly” coming “to the throne of grace” through our “great High Priest…Jesus the Son of God,” to receive the “mercy” and “grace” of forgiveness and “cleansing” “to help,” (Hebrews 4:14-16; 1 John 1:9, NKJV). As a result, I have not had the need of returning to the Lord after straying in rebellion for long periods, though, I have had some emotionally intense times of godly sorrow for sin while repenting!1
Thank God, thank God, He has been gracious and forbearing with even the consistently rebellious among His people; not treating our sins as they deserve in every instance. However, such times are coming to an end as disobedience and straying from the Lord in rebellion against His will, way and Word becomes more and more costly in the dark times the world is moving into. It is time for each one of us that profess to be authentic Christ followers to search ourselves to see what God sees in our hearts as sin that needs our attention to the end of conviction and turning or returning to Him in all humility, confession and soul deep repentance (Psalm 139:23-24; Jeremiah 17:9-10).2
Some need to actually look at themselves to see if they are truly Christians as the apostle Paul urges sinning believers in the church at Corinth (2 Corinthians 13:1-6). All considering themselves to be real Christians that are guilty of any wicked ways and unrighteous thinking as a habitual lifestyle need to “Seek the LORD while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near.” Yes, “return to the LORD” as we once came to Him before salvation with a whole heart and desire for His revival as I have been writing about.3 As it is written, “He will have mercy…He will abundantly pardon.” And again, He says, “Seek Me and live” to escape His “fire,” (Isaiah 55:6-7; Amos 5:4-7, 14-15, NKJV).
Let this season of commemorating the Lord’s sacrifice to save us from our sins which launches today on Palm Sunday motivate you to return to Him; coming humbly before Him in all “godly sorrow” making full confession of and thoroughly repenting from sin in thinking, attitudes, manner of speaking, deeds of lifestyle and habit as well as omission and every moment failure to measure up to the perfect “upward call of God in Christ Jesus,” (2 Corinthians 7:9-11; Philippians 3:12-16, NKJV). Also, as needed, forsaken the pride of racial, ethnic or national heritage since God is not impressed and instead, acknowledge the sins of our fathers along with His righteousness to judge both them and us to the extent He has thus far (Ezra 9:5-7; Psalm 106:6-7; Jeremiah 3:21-25)!
Finally, as an additional help this season and going forward, this Ministry is pleased to roll out its fourth Strong Man Of God Online Rally on Good Friday, April 7, 2023 at 3PM--the hour our Lord “breathed His last” declaring immediately before, “It is finished;” completing in that triumphant moment what was ordained from eternity and needed to secure our salvation (Mark 15:37; John 19:30; 1 Peter 1:13-21, NKJV)!4 The rally theme is Return To The Lord. It has been created with the leading of our risen, living Lord Jesus Christ and in the power of the Holy Spirit exclusively for all who profess to be His followers as Christians and if true, are also His Body He bids return after having grieved Him through straying away in disobedience (Revelation 2:4-5, 14-16, 20-23, 3:2-3, 15-22).
(By the grace of God I will be taking Resurrection Sunday off to celebrate my 46th spiritual birthday and enjoying some rest. The Lord willing we see it, my next post will be on April 23rd. I appreciate all of our regular readers and pray the Lord has met you here each week in life changing ways. Whether you think you need it or not, I urge you to watch “Return To The Lord” because it is for all of us who believe and so you in good conscience can invite other Christians to watch it too. He is risen!)
1 Because maintaining consistent fellowship with God is of such a high priority for Christians, I am led by the Lord to teach men what He has taught me about it from His Word in my book, The Strong Man Of God: Back To Basics. You can pick up a Hard or Soft Cover Edition in the Strong Man Store, among internet booksellers and brick and mor- tar bookstores.
2 Read the August 31, 2014 post, Soul Deep Repentance, under the category, Call To Repent.
3 See for example, the March 26, 2023 post, God Calls All To Repent--No Exceptions!, under the categories, Black History and Call To Repent.
4 View this latest Strong Man Of God Online Rally when it debuts on the Ministry’s dedicated Strong Man Of God Online Rally YouTube Channel.
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